Serene Man
by soupkun
Summary: Oneshot. Peace with Heiwajima Shizuo simply didn't exist. But sitting alongside a headless rider, enjoying each other's company in silence, he begins to think that maybe, just maybe, this might be it. Rated for language.


**Notes before reading: According to Wikipedia, Heiwajima Shizuo is written as "Peaceful Island" and "Serene Man" respectively. Also, the term "**_**nakama**_**" will be used. "**_**Nakama**_**" is a Japanese term that is used in manga frequently, but has no exact English equivalent. Most translations would describe it as "comrades," but more popular usage implies a much deeper and significant relationship that just camaraderie. **

**Disclaimer: DuRaRaRa! belongs to Narita Ryohgo.**

Heiwajima Shizuo had never once felt his namesake relate to who he was. "Peaceful" and "serene" were never part of his persona, never part of the identity everyone in Ikebukuro knew him as.

He was the monster. The superhuman man who was outrageously violent and brutal and swung at anything in his path if someone so much as made eye contact with him. He was the feared bartender of the city.

But this didn't bother him, because he agreed with them. He knew, from the instant he picked up a refrigerator as a kid, that his strength was abnormal. Intimidating. Dangerous. The way people bolted from him, screaming at the top of their lungs did nothing to reassure him of otherwise.

Even the earliest fragments of his memories were consumed by fighting, blood, more fighting, that annoying bastard Izaya, and some more fighting. He couldn't recall a time in his life when he felt secure or calm.

(He recalled the girl who gave him and his brother milk before but then the guilt and shame of what he had done in a fit of madness washed over him before he could revel in the warmth he had felt from her kindness.)

No, there was never a moment of true peace with him around.

But then one day he met the headless rider. Shinra had come up to him at school, blathering about some gorgeous woman he met, a foreigner by the name of Celty Sturlson. Shizuo wasn't typically interested with what Shinra had to say, usually because it involved some surgical terms and grotesque, detailed outlines of the procedure itself. Shinra being interested in a woman probably meant she was some foreign doctor or had some rare mutant gene, but Shizuo definitely had not expected the woman to be of a completely different species altogether.

The first time Shizuo came upon Celty's true identity was an accident. He stopped by Shinra's apartment to drop off some school forms when the woman who opened the door had no head. Despite Celty's panicked flailing and smoke rising from her neck, Shizuo remained indifferent to her disconcerting appearance. Instead, somewhere in the recesses of his heart, he felt a small dash of relief. That he wasn't alone, not the only person around with some pointedly different feature that made it difficult to blend in normal society.

Of course, comparing his colossal strength to a mythical creature may have been a stretch because he was still human, but it didn't matter to Shizuo. Because they were alike. Monsters that didn't belong in this fragile world, but desperately strived to stay within it.

As he grew up, he also came to regard Celty has a friend.

She had accepted him for who he was. Instead of shying away or gasping in shock when he revealed his powerful abilities, she was the first to call him beautiful. Rather than flinching when he came near or pretending like his strength was not an issue, she fought alongside him. Instead of worrying about the monstrous injuries he had inflicted on his victims, she worried about the cuts and scrapes he received from overexerting his muscles.

The pair of black gloves she created for him were carried around in his back pocket.

Shizuo would never admit it, but just knowing that Celty would never run away from him had taken a huge burden off his shoulders. It felt good to know that someone was just _there_ for him.

And Celty slowly grew to become an irreplaceable existence to Shizuo.

He wasn't going to deny anything like some blushing schoolgirl; he felt very protective of Celty. They were far from being lovers, but the two had a mutual understanding that no other human or creature could penetrate. They shared an unbreakable trust in one another that gave confidence to him. He knew that she would never abandon him. Shizuo didn't have a word to describe what their relationship was; he never was the kind to excel in school.

They were friends. They were comrades. They were partners. They were _nakama_.

When they were side by side, making small talk about their day or work, Shizuo felt...relaxed. The time they spent together, seemed to go by so slowly. They would idly watch cars and people pass by, or simply take comfort in each other's presence. With Celty, he didn't need to worry about filling the awkward silence with conversation. He didn't feel the need to do activities to bond with her, nor did he feel he had to talk to her every time they met. During these moments, Shizuo's mind wasn't preoccupied with the need to kill Izaya or other people, nor was his body tensed and prepared to fight at any given moment. He could simply lean back, take a drag of smoke, and simply watch the clouds roll overhead.

And it was in these times, a fleeting thought would cross Shizuo that maybe, this was what being a serene man felt like.

**Author's note: Just a short drabble contemplating the relationship between Shizuo and Celty. The scene of how Shizuo meets Celty is completely made up since I have no clue. Thank you for reading until the end. Reviews and constructive criticism are always welcome and appreciated.**


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